DSC Module (newbie question)

Denis

Hi

I would like to know if somebody has already works with DSC module. I have no habit to work with module, and I have to bid on a job and the client ask to connect AMX to security system.

I found in inconcert, a module for DSC security system. I read the doc and my understanding is, the module trought the touch panel replace the touch panel of security system except some features, otherwise I have not other thing to program. If I want other features, i have to program them.

My understand is good ?

Sorry for my poor english language

DHawthorne

I'm not familiar with the DSC module as such, but generally that is how the published modules work. They will provide whatever features the original author put in them, and you have to add your own if you want something that is not included. My guess is that for an alarm system, it will have what you need without needing to add anything; people only want a few things from an alarm interface: current status, arm, disarm.

If it were me, I would quote on just adding the module and what it already includes, and say to the client, if they need more than that, they should just use the alarm system itself for those few functions. Otherwise, you can easily get bogged down in a cycle of adding features that take far more programming time than you can make a decent profit at. You get frustrated, they are unhappy ... sometimes simpler is just better for everyone involved.

rfmoyle

I have done one DSC implementation. Most of the work was studying the API (the .doc file) and the sample UI.axs file to figure out how it all worked and then trimming down the UI source so it only did what I wanted it to do. And then building TP pages that worked with the motifs I had chosen for this residence. In hindsight, it was a huge mistake using different motifs on each of the 3 MVP-8400s in this house, I created a lot of extra work for myself. Live and learn, I guess.

Be aware there is an extra piece of hardware needed for the DSC system to do 232 comm and the DSC installer needs to 'enroll' the system before it will use the 232 port. This is a DSC PC4401 data comm module in my system.

The strings that come back from the DSC_Comm are a little bit cryptic, you may want to replace things like 'ZONE:1:1:FAULT' with a more useful message like 'FOYER MOTION - DETECTED'. When you issue a status query, you may want to ignore (not display) messages from non-existent partitions.

good luck
Bob Moyle

Jeff Lockyear

What kind of DSC system is it? I've integrated with the Power 864 system fairly extensively. For the 864, you need the PC5401. With a little playing around you'll find it a pretty good interface. I ended up ditching most of the UI and wrote most of the code using the documentation.

Good luck!

DHawthorne

There is a brand new DSC module on the AMX site you might want to look into. The release date is October 9, 2006. It might address some of your issues.